Ron Collier, (July 3, 1930 – October 22, 2003) was a Canadian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trombonist, composer, and arranger. He performed in and led a number of jazz groups, and created orchestrations for and recorded with

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Early life and education

A native of

Coleman, Alberta Coleman is a community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a town prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pas ...

, Collier began his musical training in Vancouver. He was a member of the Kitsilano Boys' Band. He studied music privately in Toronto with Gordon Delamont."Ron Collier"
''AllMusic'' biography by Eugene Chadbourne. Accessed April 3, 2024. The first jazz musician to receive a Canada Council grant, he studied orchestration in New York in 1961 and 1962.

Career

Collier formed the Ron Collier Jazz Quartet, which performed in the 1950s at the Stratford Festival and on CBC's ''Tabloid'' with Portia White, and in 1963 with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

performed with the Ron Collier Orchestra on the 1969 album '' North of the Border in Canada''. The album included compositions by several Canadian composers, including Collier. Collier created orchestrations for a number of Ellington's concerts and recordings. Collier composed the scores to the films ''

Face-Off A face-off is the method used to begin and restart play after goals in some sports using sticks, primarily ice hockey, bandy, floorball, broomball, rinkball, and lacrosse. During a face-off, two teams line up in opposition to each other, and the ...

'' (1971), '' A Fan's Notes'' (1972), and '' Paperback Hero'' (1973). In the 1970s, he began directing a student orchestra at Toronto's

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, rebranded as Humber Polytechnic since 2024, is a public Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has three mai ...

. His band won the big Band Open Class at the Canadian Stage Band Festival in 1982 . In 2003, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

.Order of Canada citation
gg.ca. Accessed April 3, 2024. He died in October that year in Toronto, aged 73.

References

External links

Archival papers and manuscripts
a
University of Toronto Music Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, Ron 1930 births 2003 deaths Musicians from Vancouver Canadian male composers Officers of the Order of Canada Canadian jazz trombonists 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century trombonists 20th-century Canadian male musicians Canadian male jazz musicians